Positive start to first Thai GP for Marquez and Pedrosa in amazingly tight free-practice day

It was a positive beginning to the inaugural Grand Prix of Thailand for the Repsol Honda team when points-leader Marc Marquez finished fourth overall, a mere 0.098” off the top, on a sunny and hot day one at the Buriram International Circuit.

In both FP1 and FP2, Marc completed several fast laps immediately upon taking to the track, and then proceeded to work on his race pace, keeping a consistent, fast rhythm in both sessions.

There was also good progression through the day for Dani Pedrosa, who ended eighth overall, less than 3 hundredths of a second down on provisional pole-setter Andrea Dovizioso, after improving by over a second on his morning-session effort.

Marc Marquez

4th 1'31.188

“I felt good on the bike today. Conditions are hot, but not unbearably hot! We worked in the same way as at the recent GPs, using the Friday sessions to try and understand the tyres, the bike and electronics setup, and the track conditions. Of course we pushed, but with a working plan in mind. The track surface was a bit slippery in the morning but it improved over the day. At the moment, the lap times are slower than in the test; I believe that’s because we have a different rear tyre that is working in a different way, so basically, we need to adapt the setup to it. Anyway, so far we’re working well and I feel comfortable with our race pace. Tomorrow we’ll see more clearly where we all are.”

Dani Pedrosa

8th1'31.385

“Today we worked a lot with the tyres and on understanding the track conditions, which improved quite a bit after the first session. We managed to try a few of the tyre specs that Michelin brought here because it will be important to find the best compromise between grip, traction and durability. Tomorrow we must continue working on this aspect, but so far I think we’ve done a good job. We’re improving our feeling step by step, and we have to keep up this progression.”

MotoGP 2018Friday, October 5th 2018

Practice
Round 15
Thailand Grand PrixThailand

Free Practice Classification

Sunny

Pos.

Rider

Num

Nation

Team

Constructor

Time/Gap

1

Dovizioso Andrea

4

ITA

Mission Winnow Ducati

Ducati

1'31.090

2

Vinales Maverick

25

SPA

Movistar Yamaha MotoGP

Yamaha

1'31.121 / 0.031

3

Crutchlow Cal

35

GBR

LCR Honda

Honda

1'31.164 / 0.074

4

Marquez Marc

93

SPA

Repsol Honda Team

Honda

1'31.188 / 0.098

5

Petrucci Danilo

9

ITA

Pramac Racing

Ducati

1'31.238 / 0.148

6

Iannone Andrea

29

ITA

Team Suzuki Ecstar

Suzuki

1'31.256 / 0.166

7

Bautista Alvaro

19

SPA

Angel Nieto Team

Ducati

1'31.378 / 0.288

8

Pedrosa Dani

26

SPA

Repsol Honda Team

Honda

1'31.385 / 0.295

9

Rossi Valentino

46

ITA

Movistar Yamaha MotoGP

Yamaha

1'31.398 / 0.308

10

Zarco Johann

5

FRA

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing

KTM

1'31.421 / 0.331

11

Miller Jack

43

AUS

Pramac Racing

Ducati

1'31.486 / 0.396

12

Morbidelli Franco

21

ITA

EG 0,0 Marc VDS

Honda

1'31.647 / 0.557

13

Nakagami Takaaki

30

JPN

LCR Honda

Honda

1'31.714 / 0.624

14

Smith Bradley

38

GBR

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing

KTM

1'31.841 / 0.751

15

Rins Alex

42

SPA

Team Suzuki Ecstar

Suzuki

1'31.929 / 0.839

16

Lorenzo Jorge

99

SPA

Mission Winnow Ducati

Ducati

1'32.027 / 0.937

17

Espargaro Aleix

41

SPA

Aprilia Racing Team Gresini

Aprilia

1'32.067 / 0.977

18

Syahrin Hafizh

55

MAL

Monster Yamaha Tech 3

Yamaha

1'32.177 / 1.087

19

Redding Scott

45

GBR

Aprilia Racing Team Gresini

Aprilia

1'32.191 / 1.101

20

Abraham Karel

17

CZE

Angel Nieto Team

Ducati

1'32.403 / 1.313

21

Espargaro Pol

44

SPA

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing

KTM

1'32.475 / 1.385

22

Luthi Tom

12

SWI

EG 0,0 Marc VDS

Honda

1'32.661 / 1.571

23

Simeon Xavier

10

BEL

Reale Avintia Racing

Ducati

1'32.989 / 1.899

24

Torres Jordi

81

SPA

Reale Avintia Racing

Ducati

1'33.406 / 2.316

Gallery

Images are copyright but free for editorial use.

Location Information

Designed by German architect Herman Tilke, the Buriram International Circuit opened in 2014 and will see MotoGP™ making its debut this season. Located around 410km northeast from the country’s capital of Bangkok, the town of Buriram in the Buriram province literally translates into “city of happiness”, and its typically hot… read more.

Location Information

Designed by German architect Herman Tilke, the Buriram International Circuit opened in 2014 and will see MotoGP™ making its debut this season. Located around 410km northeast from the country’s capital of Bangkok, the town of Buriram in the Buriram province literally translates into “city of happiness”, and its typically hot… read more.